Talk2action.org cofounder Bruce Wilson and I are now regularly contributing articles to Zeek, an online publication of the Jewish Daily Forward. Almost two years ago Bruce and I began collaborating and sharing our voluminous collections of video, audio, and printed material on Christian Zionism, as well as our analysis of current theological trends in this millennialist movement. I was proud to have played a small role in assisting Bruce with his John Hagee video that was aired by Countdown with Keith Olbermann on May 21, 2008, and drew international attention within twenty-four hours.

The exposure of Hagee's "Hitler as God's hunter" quote was followed by John McCain's rejection of Hagee's political endorsement. However, it failed to ignite the serious dialogue that we expected. We hope that our contributions to Zeek and other publications will highlight the role that Christian Zionist activism plays in obstructing a peaceful two-state resolution in the Middle East and in disseminating anti-Jewish memes and conspiracy theories. Christian Zionists have approached political leaders in numerous nations to encourage them to support Israel on the basis of biblical prophecy. Political activism to advance the hands of the prophetic clock is not only a threat to Israel's future but to secular democracy and religious pluralism around the globe.

Following are summaries and links for the Zeek articles.

Saving Jews from John Hagee
Talk2action readers should be aware of Hagee's apocalyptic sermons and his anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic rants. But you may not know that Hagee has been rehabilitated through the efforts of some Jewish leaders and Hagee's publicist who has equated his "Hitler as hunter" sermon with philosophical discourse on the meaning of the Holocaust. This quote is still an issue in the ongoing battle within Jewish leadership, between those who wish to partner with Christian Zionists and those who don't. If both sides in this sometimes heated discourse would actually listen to the several minutes of Hagee's sermon that forced John McCain to renounce Hagee's endorsement they might gain an understanding of one of the common themes in Christain Zionism - "fishers and hunters."

Christian Zionist leaders envision themselves as "fishers" cajoling and helping Jews to move to Israel, but they expect a coming time of "Jacob's trouble" when an explosion in anti-Semitism worldwide will give rise to "hunters" who will persecute Jews in a second holocaust that will force Jews to flee their homelands and to take refuge in Israel. In their literature and sermons, Christian Zionists indicate quite clearly their belief that human agency can indeed move the hands of the "prophetic clock" and bring about this horrific scenario.

Christians Rewrite the HolocaustBruce Wilson looks at "the other Holocaust revisionism" in which evangelical Christians have rewritten the history of the Shoah, recasting the historic victims of Nazi persecution - gays, liberals, and even Jews - as themselves the villains. Meanwhile, in a conspiracy theory-driven narrative increasingly common on the religious right, Christians envision themselves as the new "Jews" who are being persecuted, and soon may even be rounded up for mass killing, by forces of the state controlled by evil liberal secular humanists.

This is happening within a wider context in which far-right wing conspiracy theory has fused with apocalyptic end-time narratives, and the resulting hybrid claims Jewish bankers control the US and world economies. But the mating of secular and religious anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives has occurred before, most notably in the early part of the 20th Century leading up to the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Loving Israel, Demonizing Jews
Right wing Jewish and Israeli leaders are actively endorsing and promoting Christian fundamentalism as a force to counter Islam in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They are failing to either recognize or acknowledge growing anti-Semitic undercurrents in the Christian Zionism that they are helping to promote around the globe. Christian Zionists claim that hurricanes, natural calamities, and even terrorism are a result of divine vengeance for straying from Israel's prophetic destiny, therefore spreading the belief that Jews hold supernatural control over the fate of others. Simultaneously, those Jews who refuse to participate in "God's plan for Israel" as mandated by Christian Zionsts, are targeted as the source of evil in society.

Christian Zionism is increasingly dominated by a charismatic stream of evangelicalism in which sickness, misfortune, poverty, corruption, and environmental degradation are believed to be caused by literal demons which must be expelled from society. Today's Christian Zionism is a potent mix of an obsession with Jews and an obsession with demons.

Elie Wiesel Needs New Friends
On October 25, 2009, while the first national J Street conference was getting under way, John Hagee hosted Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate at his Cornerstone Church. Catering to Hagee and millennialist extremists is a betrayal of those Jews who have a strong belief in social justice and is alienating all who value religious tolerance and secular democracy.

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